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Big Ideas: Reviving the CNE for year-round enjoyment

Readers have sent in their ideas for revitalization of The Ex grounds, including an outdoor skating rink, refurbishing historical buildings and a Christmas market.

Riders soar above the ground on swings on the first night of the fair at the Canadian National Exhibition. The Ex has been a haven for pleasure since it was founded 135 years ago. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

It’s that time of year again. Whether it’s to sample strange culinary concoctions, test their nerves on roller coasters or drop in on the butter sculptures, making a trek to the Canadian National Exhibition is part of many families’ annual summer traditions.

But what if the CNE was year-round? And what other uses could there be for the Exhibition Place grounds?

As part of the Star’s ongoing series on Big Ideas for Toronto, an anonymous reader submitted a suggestion to “explore an entertainment complex with convention space and hotels at the exhibition grounds.”

The reader also suggested refurbishing historically significant buildings on the site.

“A permanent home for Cirque du Soleil, gallery space, restaurants, shops and performance venues would revitalize the area and draw tourists and business people,” it reads.

The site is already home to venues such as the Allstream Conference Centre and Direct Energy Centre, a convention and exhibition centre, Medieval Times and Muzik nightclub. A hotel is supposed to open on the grounds in 2015.

Brian Ashton, President of the CNE Board of Directors, says opportunities to expand beyond the 18 day festival are worth exploring.

“I think part of the key to these lands is to invest publicly into space that’s adaptable,” he says adding that a European-style Christmas market, like there is now in the Distillery District, might be a good option.

“I would love to have opportunities to celebrate Christmas or celebrate other activities during the winter months,” he says

Another idea, “as crazy as it might sound,” is to convert part of the grounds into an outdoor skating rink.

And as for rides?

He says it may not be impossible to keep them around past September.

“There’s a town in England that in early December has an indoor fair and it’s very successful. It runs for about 10 days they bring rides indoors and so on,” he says.

“I think we should be looking in that particular direction.”

Ashton says the CNE board of directors would be open to presenting business cases for some of these options.

The main challenges, he adds, are finding a way to have better access between Exhibition Place grounds and Ontario Place and finding solutions that will appeal to Torontonians and tourists of all ages and cultural backgrounds.

“What is it people from all these backgrounds like to do in common? What unique cultural things do they like to do and how do we provide a public place for them to do it together?” he asks.

He says it would take both imagination and political will to make these ideas a reality.

But he doesn’t think an entertainment complex or a new convention centre, as per the reader suggestion, is the answer.

“Convention centres kill space. They bring people inside, that’s what they’re designed to do,” he says, adding that the city needs to find a way to attract people to the space in a way that’s not event-driven.

“Maybe you need to put some houses down there. In some way you need to animate that space and link it to the rest of the city,” he says, adding that he thinks the revitalization of the Distillery District is a good example to follow.

“That’s the hard question. How do you animate it?”

He also thinks a skating rink might work.

“When I think of the little pond down at Harbourfront, it’s freezing down there in the winter, but heck, people go! It’s Canada,” he says.

Malcolm Bromley, general manager of Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, says a key aspect of the plan is making sure that the site has appeal for both tourists and locals.

“I think the overarching goal is to try to have this facility meet the expectations and demands of local residents while still facilitating the fair and also being a venue for big events,” he says.

Part of the plan involves refurbishing infrastructure such as a livestock building, but another priority is to make the entire site more environmentally friendly. The plan includes several gardens and streams.

“It’s trying to go from hard surface and urbanization to more environmental sustainable and greening of the spaces,” says Bromley.

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